Endocrine Science

Crop Protection:

With ongoing public discussion of endocrine disruptors (EDs), EndocrineScienceMatters.org was launched by CropLife International to publicly discuss the latest science on key issues and how crop protection products are tested for potential endocrine-disrupting effects.

Strong scientific evidence shows that crop protection products do not cause endocrine-related diseases or conditions such as cancer, diabetes or obesity. In fact, human exposure to these products is orders of magnitude lower than exposure to common, natural and more potent endocrine active substances like sugar, caffeine and soy protein. Independent of such substances, multiple factors account for increases in endocrine-related diseases or conditions, such as lifestyle, diet, body weight and changes in diagnostic criteria.

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The purpose of this report is to provide a detailed analysis of the potential trade impact due to proposed EU legislation which will set cut-off criteria to determine if a crop protection product is deemed to be an endocrine disruptor (ED), carcinogen, mutagen, or reproductive toxicant.

Policy Perspective on Endocrine Disruptors

Endocrine disruption is an issue that continues to garner significant public, political and scientific interest. It can be technically complex, critical aspects are often confused and there remain diverging points of view amongst scientists and regulators worldwide. As an important stakeholder, the crop protection industry addresses in this paper key scientific issues related to endocrine disruption and crop protection products (pesticides).

Within the ongoing debate concerning the regulation of endocrine disruptors, increasingly questions are being raised regarding the current testing of chemicals and whether this is adequate for the assessment of potential endocrine-disrupting effects. This document describes the current testing approaches for crop protection products and outlines why the crop protection industry believes these are sufficiently robust for the evaluation of such effects. The document includes first a description of the tests typically employed in global data packages and then provides the crop protection industry’s view on the criticisms most commonly made of these testing approaches.